Judge dismisses lawsuit over Uber’s ‘Hell’ program – The Verge

A US District Court decide in California dismissed a class action lawsuit towards Uber by a former Lyft driver over the corporate’s “Hell” program, which it allegedly used between 2014 and 2016 to trace drivers of the rival service.

The “Hell” program was first revealed by The Informationback in April. With it, Uber allegedly created pretend Lyft rider accounts that then allow them to monitor what number of drivers have been obtainable on the service in several areas. Uber was then in a position to make use of this info to deploy its personal drivers to areas underserved by Lyft on an actual-time foundation.

Uber additionally allegedly used “Hell” to seek out Lyft drivers who cut up their time driving for Uber, and used that info to supply these drivers incentives to drop Lyft altogether.

The lawsuit, filed in April by Michael Gonzales, accused Uber of violating the Electronic Communication Privacy Act, the California Invasion of Privacy Act, and California’s Unfair Competition regulation. The plaintiff alleged that Uber was utilizing “intercepted” communications to drive the “Hell” program.

Uber claimed that the case was poorly argued, and the decide appears to have agreed

But Uber filed a movement to dismiss the lawsuit earlier this summer time, arguing the plaintiff didn’t make a correct case that Uber “intercepted” that info, which it additionally claimed was “readily accessible to the general public.” Uber additionally argued that it didn’t violate CIPA as a result of Lyft drivers consent to giving up their location knowledge once they use the app.

The firm’s authorized staff additionally insisted that Gonzales didn’t correctly allege lack of cash or property to justify the Unfair Competition regulation. Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley granted Uber’s movement at this time with “leave to amend,” so Gonzales will have the ability to amend his grievance and file one other lawsuit. Uber declined to remark.

“Hell” was reportedly discontinued on the finish of 2016, and it was one of some notably aggressive inner instruments utilized by Uber in its push to dominate the experience-hailing market. It was just like the notorious “God View” mode that the corporate used to trace its personal drivers (and a journalist). Both of these packages got here on now-former CEO Travis Kalanick’s watch, whose willingness to place progress at the start else ultimately led to his resignation earlier this summer. Of course, Uber nonetheless has loads of different issues for its new CEO, former Expedia chief Dara Khosrowshahi, to deal with when he starts next week.